What was life really like back in the 80s?

A quick read of my bio would tell you that I am definitely not Gen-X. I was born in the 90s, had a cellphone by the time I was 12, and was able to text my friends whenever I wanted to hang out with them. However, every time I hear stories from my parents or any other Gen-X adult in my life about what it was like to be a kid or a teenager during the 80s, I get a burst of nostalgia for a time I wasn’t even born in yet. My childhood was filled with things from the 80s that carried on to my generation, and stories told by my parents about that time can truly make you feel like you were actually there.

Even though by the time I was 12, I had a cellphone of my own to take to school, I still remember what it was like to walk to the payphone and make a call from there. We had a box TV at home, a landline, and a cookie tin box that actually contained sewing supplies. The shows that were playing on the one channel we had were the same type of shows my parents watched when they were my age, and the process of reaching out to your friend/neighbor so they would meet you outside to go play at the park was pretty much the same. So even though I am a proud millennial, I still feel that burst of nostalgia for the way life was 40 years ago, and I would go back in a heartbeat just so that I can experience that simplicity again.

Were you around during the 80s? Did you have a crazy haircut and clothes that, for some reason, have come back into fashion in recent years? I want to know what music you listened to, what an average day after school looked like, and if the 80s memes below are as accurate and nostalgic to Gen-X as they are to yours truly.